Friday, April 19, 2019

Roger Waters joined Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason for a performance of the band’s 1968 classic, “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun”, during an April 19 show at The Beacon Theatre in New York.

On the road as Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets – exclusively playing vintage pre-Dark Side Of The Moon era material – the surprise guest appearance came on the first of two nights in NYC as the North American tour wraps up on April 20.

Following a story about how Waters’ always used to play the gong at the back of his drum set during Pink Floyd’s early years, Mason began the song’s introduction before the bassist wandered on stage to huge applause and gave his old bandmate a hug – marking their first live appearance together since 2011.

According to Rolling Stone, Waters then took center stage to reflect on the legendary UK band’s first concert in the city.

“It was called the Scene Club and its owner was Steve Paul, and it was 1969,” he told the crowd, though records suggest it was 1968. “I remember it well. We had a gong in those days. As I remember, as I used to, in the middle of the show, hurl a necked whiskey glass at it – and the glass was empty because I’d drunk the whiskey, as we did back in the old days – anyway, I’m so happy to be here playing with Nick.”

“We’re very, very close and old friends,” he continued. “And when I was doing The Wall he came and sang ‘Outside the Wall’ a couple of times, so here we are.”

Waters turned his head around to the drummer: “Loving the show, by the way, Nick. My considered opinion is that you sounded a lot better than we did back in the day.”

Waters returned to the Bacon stage at the end of the show, taking a bow with the band while hugging Mason.

“New York, New York... thank you!,” shared Mason on social media. “We had a wonderful time last night - hope you did too. And thanks so much to Roger Waters for helping out on Set The Controls! Made a great night even better.”

New York, New York... thank you! We had a wonderful time last night - hope you did too. And thanks so much to Roger Waters for helping out on Set The Controls! Made a great night even better. Any of you back at the Beacon Theatre for a second time tonight? (Pictures: Kate Izor) pic.twitter.com/Db5EqeyI1W